Exit Calm – The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be

Barnsley based quartet Exit Calm return on 23rd September with their new album ‘The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be’ and bring their individuality to the British guitar band genre.Exit Calm have supported the likes of Modest Mouse, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Boxer Rebellion and Soulsavers and taken to the stage at V Festival and Tokyo’s Liquid Rooms to name but a few. These lads have been busy, what with the release of ‘Rapture’ earlier this year, new single ‘When They Rise’ in August and touring the UK throughout September, 2013 shows them well and truly back on the music scene.

‘Rapture’ opens proceedings with rhythmic bass and drums that set the tone for the rest of the album. Each track follows suit, from ‘Albion’ with its hypnotic beat and effectively simple guitar work, to the chest-tensing vocals of ‘Glass Houses‘ – this album illustrates their hard work and enthusiasm for emotive song writing and story telling. It is worth mentioning most recent single ‘When They Rise’, a track that epitomises the beauty of diligent writing and musical expertise and experience. The guitar and bass lines are perfectly married with the euphoric vocals and is by far the stand-out track on this record. This may not be an album that is immediately loved, however. The style is not instantly mind-blowing, it is very much a slow burn that drip feeds its mesmerising hedonism over multiple visits like hypnotic suggestion.

Exit Calm have hit the ground running with ‘The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be’. This is a follow up to be proud of, proving that British guitar music is not just archaic nineties nonsense, but can be contemporary and passionate. The anticipation of what more this band can bring is truly palpable, and if this record is anything to go by, the future could be very bright indeed.